A Chance Twice Taken
by kyokki
Summary: She thought he loved her, she thought she loved him.... could she have been wrong all this time? Or maybe she had made the right choice a long time ago. All it takes is another chance to find out.


I receive nothing from this, save delight in crafting something that may give   
  
someone some pleasure to read. That is my only wish.  
  
Kyokki   
  
A Chance Twice Taken  
  
She sat staring at her hands, folded in her lap. "I am leaving," she said,   
  
as she watched her tears make tiny spots on the fabric of her kimono.  
  
Ryoko stared at her, incredulous. "What do you mean, leaving?" The former   
  
space pirate looked at the desolate princess through narrowed eyes. "Does this   
  
mean you're giving up?"   
  
Ayeka's head came up suddenly, and Ryoko could see a fire behind her ruby   
  
eyes, instantly quelled. The princess sighed and stood up, pacing about the tiny   
  
room that she shared with Sasami. Ryoko sat on the floor watching her.   
  
The princess's hands fluttered over the sparse furnishings as she walked,   
  
betraying her nervousness. "I simply can't bear it any longer, the not knowing,"   
  
she paused with her hand on the windowsill, peering in the direction of the   
  
carrot fields. "It has been four years, Ryoko, and he still has not shown any   
  
inclination to either of us. I am needed on Jurai..." She glanced at Ryoko with   
  
a small, bitter smile on her face. "Our people are growing restive...waiting for   
  
me to marry and ensure the succession."   
  
"But..." Ryoko couldn't believe she was saying this, "why don't you ask   
  
Tenchi?"  
  
Ayeka's eyes widened to match Ryoko's. "I cannot believe you actually said   
  
that, Ryoko." But then she smiled. "Thank you."  
  
Ryoko tossed her head, smoothing her hair needlessly. "Don't let it go to   
  
your head, Princess."  
  
"Don't worry, I won't." Ayeka laughed shortly. She sobered quickly,   
  
however, and continued her slow tread around the room. "I will be leaving soon,"   
  
she said sadly, as she reached the door. She quietly slid it open and stood   
  
there for a moment, her head bowed. "I hope, you and Tenchi are happy together."   
  
She said in a rush as she darted out. The door slid shut behind her.   
  
Ryoko stared at the closed door for a moment, then phased up till she came   
  
to perch on the apex of the roof. The sun was setting as she assumed her seat,   
  
but she did not notice. She did not notice the brilliant clouds, or the   
  
stillness of the evening. She did not notice the sweet smelling breeze that   
  
brushed across her spiky hair.  
  
But her eyes looked beyond them, focusing on one distant point, unseen.   
  
She was looking towards the fields that provided her cabbit sustenance, and the   
  
boy she knew would be toiling in them. Tenchi, the one who had freed her.   
  
She sat cross-legged with her chin propped in the palm of her hand.   
  
Staring sightlessly out at the valley, she unconsciously scanned the scenery.   
  
Her eyes were pensive as she sighed and stretched, lying back against the roof   
  
tiles. Her feline pupils went to the heavens as she thought.  
  
Ayeka leaving, it was almost impossible to think. As much as she fought   
  
with the princess, exchanging insults and, occasionally, blows, Ayeka had become   
  
an integral part of her new life. It was confusing, why was she giving up? Why,   
  
after all these years, and all these fights over Tenchi and a host of other   
  
things, was she throwing it all away? It was something Ryoko could not fathom.   
  
When she went after something, she stuck with it, no matter what happened, no   
  
matter what changed. Her eyes glanced back towards the fields where Tenchi   
  
worked.   
  
She sighed and floated off of the roof, flying aimlessly over the   
  
landscape. She did a few swoops and rolls, but the joy that came from flying   
  
free was missing this day.   
  
Ryoko settled into a more sedate glide, and looked around, suddenly seeing   
  
what was actually around her. In the course of her flight she had somehow ended   
  
up at the cave.  
  
It was a place of her deepest fears, and her fondest memories. She   
  
recalled how helpless she had felt when confined in that dark prison. Her mind   
  
shuddered away from those thoughts, then turned, inevitably, to Tenchi. Ryoko   
  
sat on one of the boulders for a few minutes, remembering.   
  
Then she was struck by an epiphany. A prison. Just as she had been   
  
imprisoned in this cave, so was Ayeka imprisoned. But the difference was that   
  
she was released from this dark place, Tenchi released her. Ayeka was still   
  
trapped, trapped within her upbringing, within her duty. Ryoko knew she would   
  
never return to this darkness, but Ayeka, though granted a conditional time   
  
away, knew that she had to return. That was why she always acted the part of the   
  
princess, because she knew she had to go back, she could not shake off the   
  
chains. And Tenchi was the one who granted her a small bit of freedom, the   
  
freedom that Ryoko so relished.   
  
Ryoko floated upwards and settled on the large boulder that jutted out   
  
from the top of the formation. This time, as she looked over the valley, she   
  
truly saw it. A peaceful place, different from anywhere she had been before.   
  
Narrowing her eyes, she tried to see it as Ayeka did. The wildness of the   
  
place contrasted with the sculptured beauty that she had seen on Jurai, though   
  
she was not really in any condition to tell that when she went there. It struck   
  
her that that was the main difference between her and Ayeka. She was the wild   
  
beauty of the Earth, and she felt tied to it. Ayeka was Jurai, beautiful, but   
  
sculpted and controlled, not allowed to grow naturally.  
  
She had more in common with Ayeka than she had ever expected, probably   
  
because she had never taken the time to look beneath the princessly exterior.   
  
Ryoko was used to taking things at face value, and if proved wrong, tended   
  
to try to force people into the mould of her assumption. Perhaps, that was what   
  
she had been doing to Ayeka, unconsciously hitting her in all the wrong spots so   
  
she would display the behavior Ryoko expected of her.   
  
Suddenly, her sensitive ears picked up on the sound of someone approaching   
  
her hidden spot. She let her self become incorporeal and sank down into the   
  
rock, only leaving her eyes and a great deal of cyan hair above the surface,   
  
looking like some odd plant that grew from solid stone.  
  
She was surprised when the form of Yosho came into view, striding almost   
  
hesitantly up to the cave. Ryoko's eyes narrowed, he almost never came up here,   
  
and not since she had been imprisoned could she count a handful of times she had   
  
seen him or sensed his presence. He walked up and sat down on the boulder that   
  
the oni had so recently vacated, staring down into the dark maw of the cavern,   
  
past the open gate, past the tripped locking mechanism. She waited for him to do   
  
something, to leave so that she could be alone with her thoughts. But the prince   
  
just sat there, a nostalgic look of regret on his face.  
  
As this was a day of revelations for Ryoko, she wasn't too surprised when   
  
she had another one. Yosho was one who had slipped his bonds, broken his chains,   
  
and yet...he ever seemed to bear their ghostly weight. Something held him that   
  
was no longer corporeal but rather the memory of its constriction. But he was   
  
the one who had imprisoned her, who had given her centuries of darkness and   
  
fear. He wasn't nearly so scary now, now that he was old and not the swift young   
  
man that she remembered. But wait...   
  
She recalled how she and Kagato had fought against him. He hadn't even   
  
broken a sweat. She remembered how he had tried to bring her around, and only as   
  
a last resort had cut off her hand, and cut her off from the jewel that was the   
  
source of Kagato's control. She remembered vaguely, that Tenchi had called to   
  
his grandfather not to kill her. And even in the midst of her thrall, she had   
  
known that he would not, that he would never hurt her purposely, that he only   
  
did it to save her from herself. Just as he had done centuries before.  
  
Her eyes widened slightly, as she thought of things that had never   
  
mattered to her before. 'Mom?' she thought, but no, this wasn't the same   
  
sensation she felt when Washu was messing with her head. This was coming from   
  
her, from within the depths of her mind, the depths of her heart.   
  
Yosho was silent for a while, content to just perch on the rock. Then he   
  
stood, and Ryoko followed him with her eyes as he started to walk away. She was   
  
just about to emerge from her hiding place when he turned and looked straight at   
  
her.  
  
"I'm sorry Ryoko." He said, and she could see the kindness in his violet   
  
eyes, usually hidden by his glasses. She remained dumbfounded as he continued on   
  
his way.  
  
Darkness fell upon the pirate. She took no heed, due to the feline   
  
components of her body, she was able to see as well in darkness as in the light.   
  
She had not left her perch on the top of the rock, even as the dinner hour came   
  
and went. She just sat there, staring up at the silent stars.   
  
The stars had always been her companions in the time when she was in   
  
Kagato's control. They were always there, never judging her for her actions,   
  
always shining upon her in the tapestry of space. She could depend on the stars   
  
to guide her, to different galaxies, or to home.  
  
'Home' she thought. Was this her home? The earth had kept her for 700   
  
years, had held her deep within her depths. It was the only place she had spent   
  
any amount of time on, a planet anyways, she had lived on the Souja or on Ryo-  
  
Ohki. But here on Earth she had found herself, or what she had thought was her   
  
self. She was made up of many different parts, of many different people. But who   
  
was she? She had never had a chance to find out, to live as a child, with a   
  
mother and a father. She had never known a family, gone through the things that   
  
'normal' young women had to grow through. She was formless.  
  
Why hadn't he killed her, he could have been done with her.  
  
...  
  
'Where is he?' she thought frantically, darting between the pieces of   
  
wreckage that littered the space where the ship once was. "Tenchi! Tenchi!" she   
  
cried over and over again, howling into the empty space. "Oh, Tenchi! Where are   
  
you?" She sobbed.   
  
Suddenly she stopped. "What was that?" A figure floated through space,   
  
nearly unnoticed due to the blackness of his hair against the darkened backdrop   
  
of space. Her face contorted into a mixture of relief and fear. "TENCHI!!" she   
  
screamed, lending all her energy to reaching him as quickly as she possibly   
  
could. It seemed she moved in slow motion, the moments stretched out to   
  
infinity, and it seemed it took her that long to reach him, only a few feet   
  
away. She finally reached the still figure and clutched him in her arms. The ex-  
  
pirate immediately transported the two of them to the bridge of the empty   
  
Ryo-Ohki. She laid his form gently down and carefully turned him over. It wasn't   
  
Tenchi. It wasn't Tenchi! Instead she was staring into the still, cold face of   
  
Yosho, looking just as he did the moment he had defeated her.   
  
She knew she must feel something, happy that he was dead, triumph that her   
  
foe was finally laid low, but instead she was numb. She reached out and touched   
  
his cold face gently, with a trembling hand. She felt the scream welling up,   
  
along with the feeling of total and utter despair. "YOSHO!" She clutched him to   
  
her. "Yosho." She whispered.   
  
"NOOOO!" her scream echoed through the ship.  
  
...  
  
"NOOO!" Ryoko gasped as she sat up on her beam. She could feel the sound   
  
of her scream echoing in her ears, echoing in the empty room. She could feel her   
  
heart pounding.   
  
Ryoko was not given to dreams, nor to nightmares. Her waking memories were   
  
usually nightmare enough for her to sleep soundly during the night. It was   
  
Yosho. She swung her legs over the edge of the beam and dangled her feet,   
  
staring at the ground beneath her.   
  
Why was it Yosho, and even more importantly, why did she feel such pain,   
  
such despair upon finding him. She dropped her forehead onto her hands and   
  
stared into the darkness of her damp palms. She could still feel the despair the   
  
dream had caused constricting her chest her, her face was damp with sweat and   
  
tears. She heard a step on the stairs, and hurriedly brushed the tears off of   
  
her face.  
  
"Ryoko?" came a tiny sweet voice below her. She looked down to see Sasami   
  
in her nightclothes, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Are you okay?" Her   
  
pink eyes were concerned in the moonlight.  
  
Ryoko mustered a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine Sasami. I just had a bad dream."  
  
"You did?" Sasami's pale face looked up at her. "I have bad dreams a lot,   
  
they scare me and I can't sleep."  
  
Ryoko stared down at the little girl.  
  
Sasami walked over and sat on the back of the sofa. "It sometimes helps to   
  
talk about dreams." She said seriously. Her face turned reflectively towards the   
  
moon glow lake. "Sometimes I dream things and they happen, or they mean things   
  
that I figure out later, sometimes I dream about things that have happened and   
  
they turn out differently in the end." She sighed, "I have strange dreams." For   
  
an instant her eyes glowed with more than the moonlight, then she blinked and   
  
they were back to normal. Ryoko was still staring down at her, amazed at the   
  
depth of understanding the small girl showed. Sasami looked up at the silent   
  
woman, "Do you want to talk about your dreams?" she asked. "Maybe I can help   
  
you."  
  
Ryoko hesitated for a few moments, undecided. Then she shrugged, she could   
  
tell it without * really * saying what had happened. She floated down off her   
  
perch and phased onto the sofa next to the princess. Sasami was silently looking   
  
at the space pirate as she waited for her to speak. Ryoko was also silent for a   
  
long moment then she began, hesitantly, to describe the dream, leaving out   
  
names.   
  
"So...um...I was in space looking for someone...uh...and...I found   
  
this...uh...person...but it wasn't who I thought it was, it was an old...enemy."   
  
Ryoko paused for another long moment, looking pensively out the glimmering   
  
windows. "But I felt something I didn't expect." She stood up abruptly and began   
  
pacing back and forth, her head down and her hands clasped behind her back.   
  
Sasami watched her with knowing, if sleepy eyes. She, of course, knew what   
  
Ryoko was talking about, even if the ex-space pirate was trying to avoid telling   
  
her.   
  
Ryoko seemed to forget that Sasami was more than she seemed, and Tsunami   
  
knew what was going on. The goddess felt both compassion and amusement on behalf   
  
of the space pirate. She realized this must be difficult for her, coming to   
  
terms with what she so long had repressed and denied. But her reaction,   
  
particularly in the face of the telling of her dream, was a bit funny. Sasami   
  
covered her giggle with a cough. She cuddled more comfortably into the cushions   
  
and propped her arms across the back, resting her chin on her forearm.  
  
Ryoko seemed to remember that Sasami was there when she heard the movement   
  
and continued with her telling, "I felt...horror...I felt like I was being   
  
ripped apart the inside." She stopped her relentless pacing and faced the   
  
kitchen, her hands now balled into fists at her sides. She whispered softly, "It   
  
was even worse than when..."   
  
Sasami rose up on her knees, now fully awake. "Worse than when what,   
  
Ryoko-sister?"   
  
Ryoko jumped, then turned around sheepishly. "Uh...I didn't say that aloud   
  
did I?   
  
Sasami nodded her head in firm affirmation.   
  
Ryoko hurried to cover her little slip of the tongue. "...Never mind." She   
  
walked over and sat beside the little princess, who tilted her head to look up   
  
at the cyan-haired woman. "So, what do you think?"  
  
"Well," Sasami said thoughtfully. "It's obviously a symbolic transfer from   
  
the time that you thought Tenchi was dead, only this time it wasn't Tenchi...and   
  
you were surprised by the depth of the feeling you felt for that person." She   
  
tapped a finger against her lips. "I think it means that your feelings for   
  
Tenchi are for someone else."  
  
Ryoko stared at her, agog. "Wha...?"  
  
Sasami stood up and stretched, stifling a yawn behind her hand. She walked   
  
over to the base of the stairs and paused for a moment, her hand resting on the   
  
rail. "I hope I helped, Ryoko." She turned and started walking up to her   
  
bedroom. Ryoko, her eyes the size of sake dishes, listened to her steps fading   
  
up the treads, she thought she heard the princess murmur 'Yosho' in a satisfied   
  
voice, before the door slid shut behind her.   
  
...  
  
Sasami stood at the window, watching as Ryoko left the house, gliding   
  
along the moon-swept earth. 'Was that really necessary?' she thought.   
  
Her other self answered her softly, 'Yes, it was. She needs to know before   
  
she surrenders herself to unhappiness for all of eternity.'  
  
The princess sighed and went back to bed.  
  
...  
  
Ryoko glided out among the leafy trees, the light of the moon making   
  
dapples on her pale skin. This time she had a destination in mind. She was   
  
heading for the tree.  
  
Ryoko stopped on the edge of the clearing that held the space tree Funaho,   
  
and watched it for a while. Funaho somehow looked dignified as it sat in the   
  
middle of the pool, her branches flurried and ruffled in the errant breezes, for   
  
all like a woman arranging her skirts. Ryoko walked into the clearing slowly,   
  
her eyes fastened on the tree.  
  
There was a reason that Kagato had sent her to get a space tree rather   
  
than going himself. She somehow seemed to feel the soul of the tree, each was an   
  
individual, and each had a distinct personality. That was how she had planned on   
  
finding Tsunami; she could feel her whenever she was near Sasami, a sentience   
  
far above the awareness of any other tree. But right now she was feeling the   
  
soul of Funaho, a sensation of oneness with the spirit of the tree. And when she   
  
felt Funaho, she also felt Yosho. She knew he was alive even before he had   
  
revealed himself. When she had been near Funaho on that day she found Tenchi and   
  
Ayeka there, she had known. That was what she had meant by, "I just came to help   
  
you." But then Ayeka said something and she had stormed off in a huff.  
  
Now she had returned. She was not sure why, but the presence of the tree   
  
reflected the feeling she got when she sensed the presence of Yosho. She paused   
  
under the spreading branches and peered up through the lush greenery. Ryoko laid   
  
a hand on the tree's smooth trunk the phased up to sit among her branches. She   
  
sat there, silent, for a while, running Funaho's silky leaves through her   
  
fingers and inhaling the subtle aroma of her ruby red blossoms. She could feel   
  
the tree's reticence towards her presence and decided the only way to allay the   
  
sentient fears was to talk. So she spoke to the tree of things she had never   
  
vocalized before; the sketchy memories of Washu, her experiences under Kagato's   
  
domain, her battle with Yosho she skipped over due to the tree having witnessed   
  
it, and she didn't want to drag up old wounds, finally she spoke of Tenchi,   
  
Ayeka, and her new found doubts about her feelings for the tree's master.  
  
"...I don't know what to think, Funaho. I thought I loved Tenchi and hated   
  
Yosho. But now, but now...oh, I don't know what to think, I don't know how to   
  
feel."   
  
She sat up from where she had leaned against the smooth trunk. Ryoko   
  
looked up through the spreading branches. "I think...I think I love him."  
  
All was silent for a few moments and then the winds started to pick up,   
  
swirling through the clearing. Ryoko swung her legs over the side of the branch   
  
and looked around in wonder. "What is this?" She stared at one of the tree's   
  
leaves; it started to glow then let off a tiny beam of light that pinged off the   
  
surrounding water.  
  
As Ryoko watched, more and more lights formed and she was soon surrounded   
  
by a gleaming multihued aura. Everything seemed to go to negative. And she was   
  
suddenly staring at the room she knew so well, the place where she had been   
  
imprisoned. The glowing pool hid her figure, but she could see one man standing   
  
next to the glowing light.   
  
As she watched he knelt beside the tomb and reached down. She saw him   
  
grasp her hand and pull it up to his chest. He held it there for a moment then   
  
lifted it to his lips and kissed it gently. He placed it back into the water and   
  
waited another moment, his head bowed, then he stood and turned. That was when   
  
she saw who it was, Yosho, his face damp and glistening in the light of her   
  
prison.  
  
The light, and the image, slowly dissipated.   
  
Ryoko stared at the space that the image had appeared in for a long   
  
moment. Then she turned her face up to look at the spreading branches of Funaho.   
  
She smiled slightly, "Thank you, but I'm just not sure yet." She phased away as   
  
the first lights of dawn stained the horizon. Unseen, a few more lights pinged   
  
off the water.  
  
  
  
...  
  
The house was subdued that morning as they all ate breakfast. Some   
  
attempts were made at conversation, but they were instantly quelled as no one   
  
really felt like talking. Ayeka and Sasami were leaving that afternoon.   
  
Sasami had prepared a wonderful feast that no one really ate. They just   
  
sat and pushed the food around on their plates. At one point Mihoshi excused   
  
herself and they could hear her in her room, sobbing.   
  
Throughout the meal, Ryoko spent her time watching Ayeka, who refused to   
  
look up from her plate, Tenchi, who couldn't seem to take his eyes away from   
  
Ayeka's bent head, and Yosho, who looked even more solemn than usual. Ryoko was   
  
still struggling over her feelings for them and that made her a bit snappish,   
  
not how she wanted Sasami to remember her. To make up for her mood, after   
  
breakfast was over she helped the small girl clean the table, occasioning   
  
incredulous looks from everyone. Ryoko just stared at them all and asked, "What,   
  
like I can't help around the house?"   
  
Washu looked at her sympathetically as everyone else shook their heads in   
  
disbelief.   
  
Ayeka and Tenchi retreated up to her room to get her things and bring them   
  
down, while Washu went to put the finishing touches on Ryu-oh's pod; Ayeka would   
  
get a permanent shell built when she returned to Jurai. Sasami sat on the couch   
  
and held Ryo-Ohki in her lap, spending as much time with the little cabbit as   
  
she could before her departure.   
  
A while later, after Noboyuki had returned from work to see the princesses   
  
off, they were ready to depart. Sasami cried unrestrainedly as she hugged each   
  
of them goodbye. Ryoko smoothed the little girl's hair when her turn came, and   
  
was surprised when Sasami looked up at her with pleading eyes, as though only   
  
she could prevent them from going. Ayeka then moved among them giving much more   
  
restrained farewells, her eyes were hooded and Ryoko could see dark circles from   
  
lack of sleep beneath them. Her eyes shone with tears as she bowed to Tenchi,   
  
who took a long moment to bow back.   
  
Then Ayeka took Sasami by the hand and led her to Ryu-oh.   
  
Ryoko came up behind Tenchi and wrapped her arms around him, which   
  
elicited no reaction, none at all. He merely stared after Ayeka with a look of   
  
shock and horror that struck Ryoko to the heart. She could hear him mumbling   
  
something under his breath and leaned her head in closer to hear.   
  
"Ayeka, she...she's leaving." He shook as though trying to shake off a   
  
horrible vision. His voice grew louder. "She can't leave."   
  
Ryoko tightened her arms around him, as though to keep him from the things   
  
he was saying.   
  
Tenchi stood stock still for a moment, then turned and looked at Ryoko,   
  
his eyes held such sorrow that she nearly cried for him.   
  
He gently kissed her on the cheek then removed her arms from around him,   
  
"Ryoko, I'm sorry." He turned, "Ayeka, wait!" he cried, and ran to her.   
  
Ayeka turned to look at him as she heard him approach, "Tenchi?" she   
  
asked.  
  
They spoke softly, but still Ryoko could hear them perfectly. She watched   
  
as Tenchi stopped a few feet away from the princess. He looked nervously at the   
  
ground and shuffled his feet, scratching at the back of his head. Ayeka watched   
  
him, holding her breath, hopeful and yet afraid to hope. Her face betrayed to   
  
those watching a hint of those two emotions. For a shining moment, the girl that   
  
was Ayeka threatened to overcome what she had been trained to be her whole life:   
  
A princess.  
  
"Ayeka, I love you. Please forgive me." Tenchi said quietly.  
  
Ayeka stared at his bowed head as Sasami happily ran back to the group and   
  
scooped up Ryo-Ohki, who miyad in joy. Ayeka made a small sound of complete and   
  
utter happiness, and Tenchi looked up at her, hopeful, to see the princess' eyes   
  
shining with tears and her face positively glowing with joy at the sound of the   
  
words she had waited so long to hear. The words shattered the walls that had   
  
been carved around the princess' heart and spirit and now, finally, she was   
  
released. "I love you too Tenchi!" The two of them embraced. "There is nothing   
  
to forgive."   
  
As they began to walk back, hand in hand, Ryoko phased out, a weak smile   
  
for the young lovers upon her lovely face.  
  
...  
  
She sat staring into the cave, her feet drawn up under her. The stone was   
  
cold and hard beneath her. She paid no attention to how uncomfortable her perch   
  
was, she had had worse. Tenchi had chosen Ayeka. Ryoko knew she should be   
  
heartbroken, but still a part of her was relieved. No longer would she have to   
  
fight the princess for possession of his heart, he had given it away. Still, the   
  
tears came.  
  
She was startled when a hand touched her shoulder. She turned swiftly,   
  
wiping the tears away from her face. Yosho stood there. Why hadn't she sensed   
  
him? He went and sat down gracefully next to her on the rock, looking down into   
  
the cave as she watched him suspiciously. If he thought he was going to talk to   
  
her about Tenchi, then he could just save his breath; she didn't feel like   
  
hearing any comforting things he might say. She was just about to tell him that   
  
he could save his sympathy for someone else when he started to speak, looking   
  
down into the cave as though his eyes could see down through layers of time.  
  
"Do you know why I avoided this place, Ryoko?" He asked, his eyes flicking   
  
towards her, then back into the dim recesses of the cave. He did not wait for   
  
her to answer, but continued as though talking to himself. "Tenchi was not the   
  
only one who could see you. Because of the gems in the hilt of the Tenchi-ken I   
  
was, oh, I don't know," he spread his hands in a gesture of confusion, "given a   
  
connection with you." He sighed. "When you started moving around, I began to   
  
avoid coming here," He then turned around and looked straight at her. "Because   
  
seeing you, and not being able to touch you, tore me apart, just like it did   
  
when you were released and had latched onto Tenchi...although..." He grinned   
  
mischievously, "I did get to touch you a little."  
  
Ryoko's mouth dropped open in surprise, "What...?"   
  
"Ryoko, do you remember anything, anything at all about the time after I   
  
defeated you?" he asked seriously, his violet eyes burning into hers, demanding   
  
to know.   
  
Ryoko shook her head and looked away. "It's all blank." It truly was. It   
  
was rather like someone had taken that part of her memory and wiped it clean.   
  
She knew there must have been something there at one point, but she was at a   
  
loss as to what it was.   
  
Yosho's shoulders slumped, "Well, yes, and it is my fault..." He paused,   
  
"Or, I should say, my decision. You see, I had Funaho hide that part of your   
  
memory when you were imprisoned, I didn't want what had happened during that   
  
time to interfere with what may happen when you woke up. But I see it still   
  
did."  
  
Ryoko was growing more and more confused, what issue was he avoiding. He   
  
was talking around something. She was a person used to being direct and she   
  
expected it in return. But somehow she felt that she shouldn't rush the prince   
  
in his explanation, he might be scared away and she would always wonder...  
  
The prince continued, still not looking at the ex-space pirate. "Ryoko,   
  
did you ever wonder how you knew certain things." He spread his fingers in the   
  
air in front of him, "for example, how you knew to use chopsticks..." he   
  
continued talking.  
  
She hadn't wondered. She had just assumed she had known things such as   
  
those.   
  
Her eyes narrowed as she racked her brain, trying to find the memories   
  
that Funaho had hidden in the vaults of her mind. Nothing... She closed her   
  
eyes, concentrating even harder, this time instead of focusing on that entire   
  
segment of her memory; she instead focused on a single word, 'chopsticks.'   
  
...  
  
The image was hazy, as though her eyes were clouded over, and all she   
  
could see were two slender pieces of wood that someone was extending towards   
  
her. They, by contrast to everything else, were sharply defined in her mind's   
  
eye.   
  
She eyed the two pieces of wood doubtfully, "Are they weapons?" she asked   
  
the person still obscured from her view. The person chuckled, a deep throaty   
  
chuckle.... 'So it was a man' she thought... then the man paused a moment, as   
  
though thinking something over.   
  
"No Ryoko," he said patiently, "But you have given me an idea I will think   
  
over later." It was Yosho, she recognized his voice. The figure in her dream   
  
became slightly clearer. He twirled the chopsticks in his strong supple hands.   
  
"These are eating implements called chopsticks."   
  
"Eating implements?" She asked, "Why do you need those?"  
  
Yosho chuckled again and sat down next to her, she could now see his eyes,   
  
patient and kind. "Because it is not polite to eat with your fingers at the   
  
table." He placed the sticks in her hand and gently showed her how to hold them.   
  
Then he picked up his own and demonstrated how to pick the food up.  
  
Ryoko, so skillful with a sword or an energy blast, felt clumsy wielding the   
  
sticks.   
  
She attempted to pick up a particularly tasty, though she really couldn't   
  
tell if something was tasty or not, looking morsel and was disheartened by the   
  
way it slid off and plopped back down onto the plate.   
  
Yosho noticed her dejected state and moved over to help her, covering her   
  
hand with his as he manipulated a piece of food towards her mouth. Ryoko stared   
  
at his hand as it covered hers, feeling the warmth of his palm on her skin. He   
  
seemed not to notice that his instructions were being ignored. As Ryoko looked   
  
at him, his face emerged out of shadow. His eyes were intent on the task at   
  
hand, teaching her...but as she watched, he looked at her face and their eyes   
  
locked. The food plopped, once again, down onto the plate.   
  
...  
  
Ryoko gasped, the floodgates, it seemed, had been unlocked by that   
  
remembrance. She had learned so much in that short time, she had learned how to   
  
love...and the one she had learned to love was Yosho. She looked at him as he   
  
kept talking, half to himself, peering down into her former prison. She felt   
  
tears welling up in her eyes as the memories came back to her, pulled through   
  
that small hole she had made into the light.   
  
He had loved to see her face above his first thing in the morning, he   
  
would laugh and pull her down for a kiss every time. He had loved it when she   
  
surprised him, appearing out of thin air, her arms entwined about his neck. They   
  
had sparred together, honing her skills and his. They had taken flights among   
  
the clouds, him trusting her enough not to let him fall. She had forgotten it   
  
all...but she could see how some of the things had affected the way she had   
  
treated Tenchi, although subconsciously. Yosho had never been bothered by seeing   
  
her naked; in fact he rather enjoyed it and they would visit the hot spring   
  
nearby and sit and drink sake together for hours, enjoying the soothing water.  
  
He was looking at her now, waiting for a response to the news he had just   
  
given to her, the filling in of a blank in her past. She ignored him for a   
  
moment, still caught in the memories. So that was why she had been so confused   
  
when Tenchi had rebuffed her advances! Everything she had learned, she had   
  
learned from Yosho. Sasami had been right...the little rat...her feelings had   
  
been for someone else.  
  
"Why can't I remember when I was imprisoned?" She asked.  
  
Yosho looked startled, "You remember everything else?" Ryoko nodded. The   
  
prince sighed and sat back. "That was a confusing time. Though you had not done   
  
anything destructive since the time of our battle, the people still feared you.   
  
When we went into town they would lock their doors." He looked at her in   
  
sympathy. "It was your idea really...to be imprisoned. You couldn't stand the   
  
way they looked at you, with scared and suspicious eyes. So you decided it would   
  
be best for everyone if you were placed into stasis until the memory of your   
  
past had faded from their minds." He coughed shortly, clearing his throat. "You   
  
asked Funaho and I to arrange it. I was against the idea, after all, I had faced   
  
prejudice from the time I was born. But you said that you didn't want to be   
  
feared. I caved." He smiled slightly at his own pun. "But I swore to you, though   
  
I knew you couldn't hear me, kneeling beside your stasis pool, that I would   
  
always be there, and that I would be there to greet !  
  
you when you woke up." He reached out and tapped the jewel on her wrist, "That,   
  
as much as those jewels, kept me alive all those years. But when I felt your   
  
feelings changing, towards my grandson, I decided to let him be the one to wake   
  
you." He smiled sadly, "I regretted what I did those centuries before, but I   
  
wanted you to be happy. You seemed happy with him."  
  
He stood and paced to the entrance of the cave, leaning against the wall   
  
reflectively, one of his hands scratching at the back of his head. "When Ayeka   
  
came, I'm sorry to say, I tried to push the two of them together. I still can't   
  
believe it worked." He turned and stared at her, his arms folded before his   
  
chest, "Ryoko, someday...no matter what had happened, Tenchi would have gone to   
  
Jurai. It is his destiny. I know you and as such, I know you would not have been   
  
happy there. But that was not the entire reason."   
  
He looked down at her hands, which were pushing against the rock as though   
  
to launch.   
  
"The fact is; I still had feelings for you...I still HAVE feelings for   
  
you. And I could not give up hope that someday you would forgive me."  
  
Ryoko stared down at her splayed fingers, scraping at the rock. It was   
  
difficult, for so long she had considered Yosho an enemy, but it turned out he   
  
had been a friend, and more...she had loved him. Did she still? She didn't know   
  
for sure, her mind was running in circles... She stood and turned away from him,   
  
attempting to run her fingers nervously through her hair. She felt her fingers   
  
snag and was trying to pull them out, when she heard a familiar chuckle behind   
  
her.   
  
She turned and saw, not the old man whom had been standing there a moment   
  
before, but instead the young man she had seen only moments ago, in her   
  
reacquired memory. He walked up to her and gently disengaged her hand from her   
  
wild cyan hair.   
  
He let his hand linger on hers for a moment, and she felt the warmth of   
  
his palm on her skin. She stared up into his face; he was looking down at her,   
  
his violet eyes endearingly hopeful.   
  
Ryoko lifted her hand slowly, ever so slowly and touched his face, tracing   
  
the line of his jaw gently, brushing his hair back from his eyes with cautious   
  
fingers. As she searched his face, she felt her chest tighten up, it seemed her   
  
heart was growing too much to be contained within. She suddenly felt complete.   
  
She smiled. "Yosho." She simply said, "I remember everything."   
  
It had been seven hundred years since they had last kissed...now they   
  
would make up for lost time.  
  
...  
  
Sasami looked up from where she was cutting carrots for Ryo-Ohki's dinner.   
  
It seemed she had felt the earth move. She smiled broadly as within her Tsunami   
  
rejoiced.  
  
I find my skill is growing as I write. Even if some do not like this one I am   
  
very happy with how it turned out. It took me long enough to write anyway.  
  
Questions, comments, just want to chat? ^^ e-mail me at kyokki21@yahoo.com 


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